Cryptocurrency exchange Poloniex is now offering institutional accounts and we’ve covered the announcement in The Daily. Also, Okex is launching a new derivative product, while crypto derivatives exchange Erisx has raised $27.5 million and Nasdaq has confirmed that it’s planning to launch bitcoin futures next year.

Poloniex Announces Institutional Accounts

U.S.-based cryptocurrency exchange Poloniex has revealed that institutional accounts are now available on its platform. According to a blog post on Medium, institutional clients can take advantage of a large selection of crypto-asset trading pairs, as well as dedicated support and robust API services. The Circle subsidiary also said that it won’t charge fees on BTC/USDC trades until the end of this month.

The announcement further notes that Poloniex is focused on meeting the advanced trading needs of financial institutions. It is the latest crypto trading platform to turn its attention to institutional clients, following the lead of exchanges such as Binance and Coinbase. It hopes to attract them with higher withdrawal limits and customer support provided by a team of professional account managers.

Okex Launches New Derivative Product

Okex, currently the second-largest cryptocurrency exchange by daily volume, has launched a new derivative called “Perpetual Swap.” In a recent announcement, the Malta-based digital asset trading platform explained that the product represents a peer-to-peer virtual derivative. Perpetual Swap has been created to allow traders to speculate on the direction of the price of major cryptocurrencies.

The new instrument resembles futures contracts, as it allows traders to take long or short positions to profit from or hedge against fluctuating asset prices. On the other hand, there is no expiry and settlement occurs on a daily basis, so traders can hold positions without time limits and withdraw their profits at any moment. According to the press release, they can leverage up to 100x.

Crypto Derivatives Exchange Erisx Raises $27.5M

New crypto derivatives exchange Erisx has announced the closing of a $27.5 million series B funding round with the participation of major financial institutions and leading representatives of the crypto industry. The new investors include Nasdaq Ventures, Fidelity Investments, Monex Group, Consensys and Bitmain.

The crypto startup is developing a single platform for regulated digital asset futures and spot contracts. It is already registered with the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) as a regulated futures exchange and expects to secure a license to operate as a clearing organization.

Erisx wants to launch the spot and futures contracts in the second quarter of 2019. The exchange also plans to introduce support for deposits, withdrawals and trading of several leading cryptocurrencies — bitcoin core (BTC), bitcoin bash (BCH), ether (ETH) and litecoin (LTC).

Nasdaq Confirms Reports About Bitcoin Futures

A representative of Nasdaq, the world’s second-largest stock exchange, has confirmed reports about its plans to launch BTC futures in 2019. “Bitcoin futures will be listed and it should launch in the first half of next year,” Joseph Christinat, vice president of Nasdaq’s media team, told the Daily Express. He noted that the exchange is currently waiting for the go-ahead from the CFTC.

“We’ve seen plenty of speculation and rumors about what we might be doing, but no one has thought to come to us and ask if we can confirm it, so, here you go — we’re doing this, and it’s happening,” Christinat added.

He also revealed that Nasdaq has been focusing on cryptocurrency and blockchain technology for some time, despite this year’s market losses.

“We’ve put a hell of a lot of money and energy into delivering the ability to do this and we’ve been all over it for a long time — way before the market went into turmoil, and that will not affect the timing of this in any way,” Christinat stressed.

What are your thoughts on today’s news tidbits? Tell us in the comments section.

Images courtesy of Shutterstock.

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Lubomir Tassev

Lubomir Tassev is a journalist from tech-savvy Bulgaria, which sometimes finds itself at the forefront of advances it cannot easily afford. Quoting Hitchens, he says: ”Being a writer is what I am, rather than what I do.“ International politics and economics are two other sources of inspiration.

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